Apology
by sabeanerr
Summary: One-shot with Butch and my female Lone Wanderer Kallia. Butch and Kal are settling down for the night, tired from thier journey to Underworld on a supply run. Butch has something on his mind, and decides to tell Kal once and for all.


ONE SHOT: Apologies

The sun had set hours ago, blanketing the Capital Wasteland in a darkness that enveloped everything. Tendrils of black shadow crept along the ground, wrapping themselves around pieces of broken highway and long-forgotten trash that littered the area around their small campsite. A crackling fire burned by the edge of a crumbling overpass, the soft glow of the orange flames dancing off the concrete as Dogmeat slept by its warmth. Kal was propped up against a more stable looking part of the wall that held up the end of the overpass, looking contentedly out at the sprawling land before her. She was absent-mindedly fingering a small piece of paper between her thumb and index finger. Butch was a few feet away sitting on his bedroll while inspecting his beloved switchblade. He looked up from his inspection, sneaking a peak at Kal who was still staring out into the abyss with a face he couldn't read.

"Hey, Nosebleed. You alright?" Butch turned his body to face in her direction, sitting crisscross like a small child would.

"I'm…. fine." Kal replied, still staring out in front of her.

"You sure? It don't look like you're fine." Butch replied. He was watching her intently, noting how her small, slender body looked in the fire light.

"I'm fine Butch. Nothing's wrong." Kal turned to give him a small, yet pathetic smile. In fact, she wasn't fine. It had been 3 months since her father had died at the Jefferson memorial. After she woke from a radiation induced coma and remembered her father's demise, she spent an entire month locked up at the Citadel, refusing to let anyone see her. Eventually she crawled out of her cocoon and ventured back in to the world, but she had changed. The weak and scared little girl who walked out of the vault 5 months ago was gone. She had matured, grown into a hardened warrior of sorts, and was no longer the kind and gentle figure she used to be. After returning to Vault 101 a month and a half after her father's death to sort things out, she was exiled again, left alone once more in a harsh and brutish world. She had stumbled upon Butch at the Muddy Rudder in Rivet City after trying to drink away the pain of the last few months. Her initial reaction was to punch him in the face and then pull him in for a tight hug. He was excited to see her wearing the Tunnel Snake jacket he had given her for saving his mom. After a few quick words, Kal let Butch talk her into taking him "along for the ride" out in the wasteland. She agreed, partially because she was too drunk to say anything but yes.

Now Butch sat across the camp from her, legs still crisscrossed and eyes still focused on her delicate face. She could feel his gaze on her as she turned to stare back at the horizon. She could hear Butch as he began to shuffle, trying to find a more comfortable sitting position. Eventually he gave up and lay down on his back to gaze at the stars above.

"Nosebleed, can I tell you something?" Butch had his hands behind his head, one leg bent and the other resting across it. He looked relaxed in his leather jacket and torn up t-shirt. His pants were tight enough to see the hard muscles underneath them flex as he wiggled his leg to keep himself moving. One thing about Butch was that he was always moving or fidgeting, he could never stay still in any situation.

"Sure Butch. Anything you want." Kal closed her eyes and listened to the breeze whistle through the cracks in the concrete.

"I… just want you to know that… uh…" Butch sighed and took in a large breath, making Kal open her eyes and look at him, eyebrows raised questioningly. "I just wanted to… apologize. I was a real dick to you in the vault. I never meant that stuff I said to you. You're… cool, ya know? If it weren't for you, I'd either be dead right now or drinking that piss in a bottle that passes for whiskey at the Muddy Rudder. You kinda saved my life, nosebleed, on more than one occasion." Butch stared at the stars for a moment and then looked over at Kal.

He continued, letting out a deep sigh. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry. Sorry that you got kicked out of the vault twice, sorry that I beat up on you…., sorry that your dad died…, none of that shit shoulda happened to you Kal. You're not a bad person." Hearing Butch say her name made her sit up straight. He never used her name, even if it was the shortened version he was using.

"It wasn't your fault those things happened Butch. You don't have to apologize for them." Kal watched him as he just lay there breathing. She pulled her matching leather Tunnel Snakes jacket around her tighter, shivering as a larger breeze whipped under the overpass. Butch looked over and noticed her shivering by the concrete.

"Come over here Nosebleed. Get by the fire before you freeze to death on that concrete." Butch gestured with his hands for her to come and sit on the rolled out sleeping mat he had laid out for her earlier.

Kal stood up and brushed the dust off of her newly purchased leather pants, and Butch couldn't help but admire the way her legs looked as she made her way over to the sleeping mat. Kal sat down and hugged her knees to her chest, letting the fire warm her inside and out. She was oblivious to the way Butch was looking at her as she attentively watched the flames flicker and the smoke rise into the midnight sky. Kal closed her eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the campfire and thinking about plans for their journey to the Underworld to make her usual supply run. Her eyes snapped open and she jumped as she felt a hand brush her hair behind her ear.

"Butch? What are you doing? You scared me!" Kal had turned herself to face him, her eyebrows drawn up again.

"Sorry, I… I don't know." Butch blushed, the tips of his ears turning a rosy red as he turned away from Kal and looked at the ground by his feet. After a few awkward minutes, he turned back towards Kal and met her gaze with one of his own. He moved closer to her, watching for her reaction and waiting for her to say something. He stopped when their legs were touching and placed a hand on her thigh. She sucked in a breath and locked eyes with him, getting lost in the ocean blue of his irises. Her heart began to beat faster as Butch leaned forward to close the short distance between their faces. Her hands wrapped around his neck, tangling themselves in his hair as their lips met. He kissed her gently at first, moving his other hand to rest on her lower back as he intensified the kiss. Kal pulled away for a breath and stared at Butch, her face flushed and breathing heavier than she would have liked.

"Damn, nosebleed. You messed up my hair." Butch grinned at her, moving in to kiss her once more. Before he could claim her mouth, she climbed onto his lap and gave him a seductive smile. Butch grinned even more and pressed her into his chest, kissing her more passionately than before. His hands traveled up her back underneath the leather jacket, skimming her shoulders and the nape of her neck before returning to the hem of her t-shirt. They kissed long and hard. Butch pulled away and looked Kal in the eyes.

"Do you want to go any further than this? We don't have to." Butch smiled and held her close as she shifted in his lap.

"I'd like it if you could just hold me tonight." Kal sighed and looked at the ground. "I'm not ready for that yet."

"Anything you want, Kal." Butch released his hold on her. Kal stood and moved her sleeping mat over so they could comfortably share the two mats. She grabbed their blankets and settled herself down next to Butch, reveling in the way his arms felt around her middle. Butch rested his chin on the top of her head, placing a gentle kiss there as Kal began to drift off. He sighed and rested, keeping awake to watch for raiders or wasteland animals.

There was only one thing on Butch's mind that night. He forgot all about the vault, Rivet City, and the rest of the world. The only thing he thought about was Kal, the girl he always wanted but could never have, until now.


End file.
